Family Traditions

   I recently had the opportunity to read a great book by William Doherty entitled "The Intentional Family: How to Build Family Ties in Our Modern World." Establishing rituals or traditions is a key to building a strong family.  Doherty gives these four main reasons why families should develop rituals or traditions:

•          It makes family life more predictable. In a world that is anything but; having a ritual that is followed on a daily or weekly basis, such as family dinner or nightly storytime, helps both children and parents feel secure.
•          It gives families a chance to reconnect. Rituals, such as family night or daily walks, give parents and children a time to connect and share their lives.
•          Family identity is formed through rituals. Children today often search for a group to belong to. By establishing family rituals, we give children an identity and a group to belong to, so they don't have to go outside the family. 
•          Family rituals teach children what the family values. Attending religious ceremonies, giving service, and visiting elderly relatives all provide children with a set of values that they can take into adulthood.

Family rituals and traditions can be something that you do nightly, weekly, or even yearly. The only criterion is that you choose something that you and your child are both interested in doing. Some typical family rituals or traditions include: 

• Read a story to your child every night before they go to bed.  
• Eat dinner together every night. 
• One weekend morning, have a big family breakfast.
• Have a family night where you get together, play games, and eat treats.
• Have a pizza and movie night once a week.  
• Every year, have a family reunion with both sides of the family. 
• Create a first-day back-to-school tradition.
• Create the first day of summer vacation tradition.
• Celebrate the family pet's birthday. 
• Have an annual family walk on the first day of spring (rain or shine).
• Invite family and friends over for a monthly dinner (each month one family member gets to invite one or more friends over for dinner).
• Have an ancestor night - one night a month where you celebrate the life of an ancestor.
• Creating family traditions that surround your traditional holidays.
• Create your own family holidays.

            The key thing is to just establish family traditions or rituals and then just do them consistently.  It will establish family identity, teach values, and provide a great time to reconnect and strengthen your family relationships.  

-Primary Teacher